Long-Desired Peace Deal Comes to Fruition
Just days before President Donald Trump became the 47th president of the United States and made his return to the White House, a long-awaited ceasefire deal between Gaza and Israel was reached. In the U.S., scholars have compared the ceasefire deal to the Carter-Reagan hostage deal in Iran in 1981. While President Biden has looked to take credit, applauding the work of U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, President Trump claims it was a work of his doing.
Trump posted on Truth Social saying, “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies.”
Steve Witkoff, former New York real estate developer and Trump’s Special Envoy for the Middle East was reportedly instrumental in negotiating a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, per Al Jazeera. This ceasefire deal seems to be a temporary breath of relief in a longstanding and ever-changing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Following the example of then-university president Father John Jenkins, C.S.C., Father Robert Dowd, C.S.C. wrote in a note to the Notre Dame community on January 15: “And we are ever mindful of those who live amid violent conflict and war around the globe, including in Israel/Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and elsewhere,” as he launched his theme for the 2025–26 ND Forum “Cultivating Hope.”
A movement toward peace seemed to be resoundingly positive as faculty and staff reacted to the ceasefire around campus.
Professor Tzvi Novick, Abrams Jewish Thought and Culture Professor of Theology, told the Rover about Jewish reaction to the ceasefire saying, “Most Israelis support the ceasefire even though it will mean the release of some Palestinian prisoners convicted of terrorist killings because it will bring back the hostages and because they believe Israel has already achieved its basic war aims. The hostages’ suffering has been a great open wound in Israeli society, which has perpetuated the trauma of October 7.”
Novick also suggested that Trump’s efforts working toward a solution should not go unnoticed telling the Rover, “Trump ran on a platform of ending wars, and there’s no doubt that the pressure that he applied to end the conflict before his inauguration enabled the ceasefire agreement. He will get credit for his capacity to get things done, and his unconventional methods of international diplomacy will gain more credence.”
Novick continued, “Ending the Gaza war is a necessary prelude to [the] expansion of the Abraham Accords, a stated goal of the incoming administration. Perhaps it will also lend a certain momentum to bringing Russia’s war against Ukraine to a conclusion.”
Professor Michael Desch, Packey J. Dee Professor of International Relations, noted, “On the [one] hand, there are plenty of hardline pro-Israel folks (National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and former Senator and newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio) who would be the Biden Administration on steroids re supporting Israel no matter what and putting the squeeze on Iran.”
Desch added, “On the other hand, Trump clearly wants closer relations with Saudi Arabia and would love to claim credit for the Gaza ceasefire. My guess is that because the incoming president is in legacy mode, and the Saudis want the Gaza peace and are less hardline now versus Iran, we may still see him pulled in different directions but he’ll trend toward ‘let’s make a deal’ in Gaza.”
Freshman Fritz Micko, a resident of Keough Hall, suggested “the ceasefire is a positive move in the right direction aiming to promote peace in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.”
Junior Baumer Hall resident Gage Whitton echoed the positive sentiments of returning to peace in the Middle Eastern conflict, telling the Rover, “I think the deal is a positive because stopping the death from the war is a good thing.”
Pro-Palestine group OccupationFreeND, the Notre Dame Jewish Club, and Professor Hussein Abdulsater in the Program of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies did not respond to requests for comment.
Kevin Andrews is a sophomore in Keough Hall majoring in political science and economics. When not covering international war, he can be found in Duncan Student Center, wasting his Flex points, probably on Chick-fil-A. He can be reached at kandrew6@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: The Organization for World Peace
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